Chocolate Loft

Two mathematics professors residing outside of Toronto wanted a flexible pied-à-terre in the city. They purchased a 900-sf loft in a former chocolate factory and asked PLANT to renovate it in a way that would enable them to use the space as either a two-bedroom condominium or a one-bedroom unit with an expanded living area. We inserted a wall that passes through the unit on a gentle dogleg stretching from the hallway entry to the front of the building. Transitioning from mostly glazed at the street edge to entirely wood veneered closer to the entry, a series of sliding doors in this wall makes it possible to close off part of the loft when a second bedroom is required.

In keeping with the owners’ passion for numbers, the pattern CNC-routed into the entry niche’s feature wall depicts nested parabolas, and the tile pattern in the bathroom expresses a mathematical sequence in two dimensions.

The project also includes new lighting, a refinished kitchen, and a new rift-sawn white oak floor.